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Brinks Trial: A Priest and His Money Cannot Part

OCT. 26, 1994 PROSECUTION GOALS To show how Father Patrick Moloney was acting as if he were a man of more means than would be expected for a Melkite order priest running a home for troubled youths. WITNESSES

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To show how Father Patrick Moloney was acting as if he were a man of more means than would be expected for a Melkite order priest running a home for troubled youths.

WITNESSES

Various witnesses testified about interactions with Moloney, including employees of a Tampa, Fla. Bank where Moloney asked about depositing $21,000. Moloney balked when told the Internal Revenue Service would have to be notified of any deposit in excess of $10,000.

Rebecca Melton, a customer service representative at the bank, told Moloney she would have to fill out a currency transaction reporting form, or CTR, if he deposited $21,000.

"He questioned why I had to fill one out," Melton testified.

Moloney instead opened an account at the bank with a personal check for $1,000.

Under cross-examination by Federal Public Defender Jonathan Feldman, Melton acknowledged that Moloney did nothing to hide his identity. Instead, he provided multiple forms of identification.

A security guard at the bank also testified about how earlier he had seen Moloney and another man in the bank parking lot counting a stack of cash in a car. Moloney told the guard, Evelio Penalver Jr., that they planned to make a deposit.

TRIAL TRIFLES

Longtime readers know that some of this testimony has shown up in previous blogs, as we traced the months after the heist and the investigation that led to these arrests. That said, I can't help but repeat the story security guard Penalver told in his testimony.

Penalver warned Moloney that he should be careful with the cash he was tallying while in the car. Penalver then returned to the bank and saw Moloney enter.

A Catholic, Penalver asked for a blessing. Moloney obliged, placing his hand on Penalver's head and blessing him. Moloney then went to the counter to ask about depositing $21,000.

IN OTHER NEWS

This day brought a ray of hope to the troubled Middle East, when Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel and Prime Minister Abdel Salam Majali of Jordan signed a peace treaty. President Bill Clinton attended.

(To read the initial coverage of the discovery of Ronnie Gibbons' remains, click here. To subscribe to notifications of this continuing narrative blog, click here. To read past installments, click here. Notifications will also be sent via my Twitter account @gcraig1.)

Public safety watchdog reporter:
Gary Craig is a member of the Democrat and Chronicle’s Watchdog team, and focuses on public safety and criminal justice. He has worked at Rochester newspapers since 1990, covering City Hall, politics and federal courts before joining the newspaper’s investigative team. He has won state and national investigative writing awards. He is married with two daughters.